Polite Warning

[raymac]

Not sure if i am in the right area to post this but i think it should come under technical, right, the sister in laws next door neighbour (arsehole) had a coming together with what looks like a lampost in his 55 plate BMW X5, frontend bollocksed and a big crease down the roof where the lampost came to rest :D insurance wouldn't pay him out because being an arsehole that he is he didn't inform them that he was going to fit some non factory fitted alloys <_< so if in doubt ask your insurance :D

[bigdaddy]

I always thought you had to tell them about alloys wether they were factory fit or not ;)

[Andrew T]

An insurer will always ask if a car has been modified (or is to standard spec')and in this case he should have mentioned replacement alloys. He may also find his policy is now cancelled and he will have problems reinsuring in the future.

 

When I queried the fitting of larger wheels my insurer at the time (Frizzell I think) were happy to allow fitting of the wheels from another model in that range, or ones from that manufacturers options list.

[raymac]

I always thought you had to tell them about alloys wether they were factory fit or not ;)

 

If they come from the factory as standard then the insurance should pick up on them from registration ;) but i would imagine anything you change on a car that's not factory spec within reason then it could void your policy.

[gregers]

i see your really upset on his behalf then raymac? ;) ;)

[raymac]

i see your really upset on his behalf then raymac? ;) ;)

 

Makes me smile every time i visit the in laws as it is on his drive ;)

[gav]

any excuse not to pay out,they make enough out of us a year and still haggle with the smallprint

;)

[keith9534]

Our Mondeo has non-standard dealer fitted alloys

 

They are Ford made and available as an "extra" but they still have to be declared apparently

 

Good thing is that only one company tried to increase the premium because of them.........and they lost our buisness on three cars!

[faz]

I was wondering how far insurance companies would go to avoid paying a claim, a lot of people have non standard wheel trims, would an insurance company be petty enough to refuse a claim over this.

[mumble_bee]

I used to work for sun alliance in the early 90s as an underwriting assistant, we looked for ANY excuse to not payout pretty much.

I remember this guy wrote off a 2 month old LS400 lexus, and all the paperwork looked good.. we hired 1 of our regular investigators who got the guy to admit to something.. I think it was speeding or something .. we didnt pay out in the end...

 

On a totally off-topic aside... we werent allowed to test drive porsche's because all the porsche dealerships had their insurance with us, and one of our salesguys wrote off the demo car.... which we had to pay out on....

[burundi]

Whilst an insurer will look for a reason not to pay they should only be able to refuse to pay out on a claim if the cause of the accident/claim is attributed to someone you haven't told them previously.

 

In this case it sounds like the non-standard alloys/tyres are considered a factor in the accident and since they weren't told about them they are refusing to payout. Tenuous though, he should see a solicitor to see if he can fight their decision.

[raymac]

Whilst an insurer will look for a reason not to pay they should only be able to refuse to pay out on a claim if the cause of the accident/claim is attributed to someone you haven't told them previously.

 

In this case it sounds like the non-standard alloys/tyres are considered a factor in the accident and since they weren't told about them they are refusing to payout. Tenuous though, he should see a solicitor to see if he can fight their decision.

 

the wheels on the vehicle look a lot larger than standard x5 alloys therefore the insurance will argue that the cars handling was compromised due to this, he hasn't got a cat in hells chance, and looking at the damage i'd say he was driving at an illegal speed. :D